LSB to champion consumer rights through education and technology

The Legal Services Board (LSB) has today launched its Business plan for the year 2019/20, confirming three new policy objectives that will address key gaps in protections for and information available to consumers of legal services.

The policy objectives, which will benefit from suggestions made during consultation, are focused on:

ensuring that regulators have appropriate frameworks for continuing assurance of professional competence throughout the careers of professionals they regulate;

“I’m delighted to confirm that we will proceed with these key policy objectives as part of our 19/20 business plan. Consultation on the draft plan generated a significant response from stakeholders and I’m grateful to all those who submitted a response or met us to discuss what these objectives will mean for them.

Feedback was broadly supportive and recognised the key role for the LSB in filling the gaps in information on consumers’ legal rights, ensuring that regulation keeps pace with technology and that regulators be assured that those they regulate provide a technically competent service to consumers throughout their working lives. We will now get to work on these objectives, and on the other projects in our business plan, to deliver on our overall strategic plan.

We look forward to working closely with a wide range of organisations as we scope these projects and finalise the timelines and milestones for delivery."

The LSB’s strategic objectives are set out in the strategic plan 2018-2021, which can be found here.

The Legal Services Act 2007 (the Act) created the LSB as a new regulator with responsibility for overseeing the regulation of legal services in England and Wales. The new regulatory regime became active on 1 January 2010.

The LSB oversees ten approved regulators, which in turn regulate individual legal practitioners. The approved regulators, designated under Part 1 of Schedule 4 of the 2007 Act, are the Law Society, the Bar Council, the Master of the Faculties, the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys, the Association of Costs Lawyers, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

In addition, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland is an approved regulator for probate activities only but does not currently authorise anyone to offer this service.

As at 1 April 2017, the legal profession in England and Wales comprised 148,690 solicitors, 15,281 barristers, 6,809 chartered legal executives and 5,958 other individuals operating in other areas of the legal profession such as conveyancing. The UK legal sector turnover was £35 billion per annum (2018) which is up 25% in cash terms since 2012. For more information see here.